What drives you to learn about our program? Are you a Succeeder, driven to master your creative leadership skills? Are you a Reformer, determined to make a difference in the world through your creative voice? Are you an Explorer, seeking to create new experiences for yourself and for others?

You might find you relate to one of these descriptions, or maybe to all of the above. Either way, we’ve created this space for you to meet current students and recent graduates who represent each of these different motivations in their own words and through their featured work.

Whatever fuels your interest in our Transmedia Graphic Design program, we know you are driven. And so are we.

In our Undergraduate Graphic Design Program we foster the highest standards of creativity and critical thinking, visual and cultural literacy, craftsmanship, professionalism and collaboration, leadership and ethical purpose, and a readiness to be lifelong learners.

The creative industry is demanding a new generation of graphic designers who can readily stretch their skills across a wide range of analog and digital media to create communication design that successfully cuts through the white noise of our convoluted visual environment.

Our curriculum consists of multiple areas of emphasis that reflect the scope of professional opportunities: print and branding, packaging and environmental graphic design, motion and visual interaction design, as well as transmedia design.

Transmedia Fluency is the term we use to describe our approach to teaching graphic design: a discipline that has transcended its role as commercial art practice to that of an essential and universal tool for communicating the multi-dimensional experience of a place, product, service or personality in every imaginable context.

Transmedia Fluency means working across all media. All of the above is deeply rooted and united in typographic excellence that spans across all activities of our program.

Our curriculum accommodates two different kinds of students and creative personalities: generalists, who want to produce work across the entire scope of communication design, and individuals who are passionate for a very specific media format.

For both student types, our program offers a nourishing environment for creative discovery with effective student advisement tools, that help each individual to establish his or her own learning path. We facilitate such a self-curated curriculum through intensive mentorship readily accessible to students. Dedicated faculty directors curate, oversee and mentor each of our graphic design areas of emphasis.

Immersed in such a culture, our highly motivated students expand the boundaries of graphic design, thriving in an exploration-centered environment that boldly envisions the future. Consequently, the graduates from our program are highly sought after by the most exciting and disruptive global brands like Uber, Tesla, Google, Facebook, Nike, and creative agencies like IDEO, R/GA, Local Projects and other future-forward organizations.

Q: What is Gx?A: Gx is the abbreviation for the Graphic Design program at ArtCenter. “G” is for Graphic Design. Think of the “x” as a variable, a container for the five areas-of-emphasis within Graphic Design. Those areas are Print, Packaging Design, Visual Interaction, Motion and Transmedia.

Q: What is Transmedia Design?A: We asked some of our students to explain in this video.

Q: Who’s the educational leadership?A: Chair: Nik Hafermaas. Managing Director: Steve Kim. Nik has been leading the department and Steve has been coaching our students for over 10 years now. We also have Faculty Directors for each area-of-emphasis within Gx. We have one of the strongest core of full-time faculty and one of the largest part-time faculty teams. We are all working as creative professionals.

Q: How big is the department?A: Gx has the second largest student body at ArtCenter. Despite our size, we take great pride in providing the most robust one-on-one advising to guide you through the curriculum.

Q: Do I have to take “foundational” classes within Gx?A: At ArtCenter we don’t offer a generic foundation program. Instead, you enter directly into the Gx program. Our foundational classes are specific to Graphic Design and are the basis of your success. Students learn the basic tenets of concept, composition, layout, typography, use of imagery, etc. in the foundational terms. Once those skills have been attained, our students have the freedom and independence to focus on the areas-of-emphasis that interest them the most in their advanced terms.

Q: Can I transfer in credits from other schools?A: When you submit your portfolio and transcripts for studio and liberal arts (general education) transfer consideration, the Admissions Department works closely with our Chair to award transfer credit where appropriate. We want to place you in just the right level so that you’re challenged, but not overwhelmed. Your studio credit possibilities are based on your portfolio as well as your transcript, while your liberal arts credits are evaluated directly from your transcripts(s).

Q: Are there scholarship opportunities?A: Yes. ArtCenter offers scholarship opportunities for your incoming term. You’ll hold those funds for your entire time here as long as you maintain an eligible GPA and continue to show financial need, if you are an U.S. student. International students can also apply. Afterwards, as long as you maintain a 3.0 GPA, you can participate every term in our scholarship portfolio review for a chance at additional funds.

Q: What is my professional career outlook after I graduate?A: Students graduating from ArtCenter have exceptionally high rates of professional success. Graduates from Gx in particular are highly sought-after by the most innovative corporations — by leading creative offices and by global brands alike: from Google to Uber, from IDEO to the United Nations.

Q: Can I visit your campus and the Graphic Design department?A: Yes by all means! We have tours M-F at 2:00 and counseling appointments with our admissions staff M-F. Call 626-396-2373. We will also invite you in to look at some great portfolios each term as our Gx students present their work in their scholarship reviews.

Q: Now I’m seriously interested — where do I go from here?A: Please check out the Admissions tab on this website for a comprehensive plan of action..

We hope are inspired by what you’ve seen here and consider joining this remarkable creative community. We’d like to introduce you to this program and help you access an ArtCenter education.

Scheduling a visit to ArtCenter

The best way to experience our program is through a visit. Call us for a tour of the campus or to meet with an Admissions Counselor for an individualized counseling session. If you can’t visit, we offer phone and Skype counseling as well.

The Mobshoppe is a proposed concept for an 826 tutoring and retail space, an entity that finances tutoring in reading and creative writing through selling themed novelty goods. Set in an alternate Roaring Twenties with a prohibition on literature, the Mobshoppe offers products that disguise classic tales within items based on vernacular phrases of the era.

Product series
Products include “Sleeping With The Fishes” a sleeping bag that disguises Ernest Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, “Rolling in the Dough” a rolling pin that disguises the first chapter of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgeral, “The Cat’s Pajamas” feline pajamas that disguise Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting, and “Moon Shine” a flashlight that projects various poetry from the era.